The birds chirped, the sun was warm and everything seemed so distracting beautiful-
Outside the classroom.
Clove sighed. She usually was a good student, always listening to the teacher and making notes. But since this was the last school year before the reaping she started to see things different.
Kind of trying to see them from another point of view.
She flashbacked to when she was thirteen, fourteen. These were the years she thought of her as an invincible warrior, skilled and tough and clever and everything.
She smiled as she remembered her dreams of going to the Hunger Games and winning them in such a spectacular way nobody would ever forget her.
These were the days she was sure she could change everything because simply everything was possible and nothing unlikely to happen.
And now?
She was sixteen now. She wasn't sure of much more than this fact.
Nearly nothing changed in her life. Everything became a damn boring routine.
She had lost her motivation to go to her training sessions.
Of course she still went there- it was obligatory, but she didn't go with such an enthusiasm as the years before.
She knew she was skilled.
But this wasn't enough for her to be satisfied.
Sometimes she found herself thinking that she was kind of searching for something- but of course she had no clue what that could be.
"Fuck puberty" she thought and tried to focus on the lesson again.
It felt like years until the last lesson ended and Clove was allowed to leave this stupid building called school.
Her friend Skeeta was waiting outside for her.
"Thanks for waiting" Clove said because Skeeta had already an hour earlier off.
But she wasn't listening.
Instead, she stared at something behind Clove and whispered "Oh God- Clove, please tell me that you've never seen such a hot ass before!"
Clove smiled. Yup- that was Skeeta.
She had to admit, that Skeeta had her really damn annoying days when everything male walking this earth became Finnick Odair.
But Skeeta understood Clove like nobody else did.
And Clove knew pretty well, that she wasn't always an easy person.
In fact, years ago she had hardly had any friends.
Until Skeeta showed up.
She was definitely the sweeter and softer one of them and Clove still didn't know why Skeeta wanted to become friends with her so badly. But finally they did and Clove didn't regret it.
From this day on, she also began to talk friendlier to her classmates. She was still the tough and wild Clove, but she learned that it didn't hurt to be nicer to the people around her.
Her classmates started to respect her instead of talking behind her back like they used to.
Yes, having Sheeta as her friend was definitely a pretty good thing in her life.
"Come on- you have to agree!" Skeeta begged.
Clove turned around to face a group of boys about their age a few meters further.
"Which one?" Clove asked.
"Damn-all of them I guess!" she sighed.
Clove laughed and pulled her with her.
"Come on, we wanted to go to the shops before having to go to that bloody training!"
"Right!" she agreed but still staring at the boys.
Clove was happy when they arrived at the grocery shop because that meant Skeeta would stop her monologues about the boys at the school for a moment.
She found it funny to hear her saying things like "I dropped my pencil and he picked it up for me- gee, I bet he is sooo strong!" but sadly she never had something to tell her friend.
She nodded and agreed and stuff but she wasn't that obsessed with guys who looked for a few seconds at her.
Skeeta was definitely the passionately one. Clove just felt like a rock most of the times.
She would love to share a few boy-stories with her friend but she really couldn't.
She already tried, she had some collections of memories of snogging guys on parties, but she fucking felt nothing.
At some point she told herself that it was alright and that boys weren't everything- definitely not!
Clove often went shopping with Skeeta for her family's housekeeping.
Her parents worked a lot and came home late at night so there was just their little Skeeta to keep the house.
Also it meant that she could stay away from home longer.
At home was just her sister because it would be strange if she'd left the house except for school or training. Maybe there was also her mother, wearing an elegant trouser suit, sitting in her perfect study and never missing to tell her how bad her grades and athletic achievements are. And later her father came home, probably with guests, to show them the perfect mayor's family.
She didn't like her family. Sometimes she even hated them. But the worst was her father, she simply couldn't stand him. Maybe because he was more powerful than her and she didn't like to be the weaker one.
After finishing the grocery shopping they walked around a bit like they often did. Clove bought Skeeta and herself ice-cream and she could hear her mom complaining about that she didn't take her diet serious and that she would never be a victor.
A few years ago she'd have killed anyone trying to flog her sweets.
"God, I was a sad child" she thought of herself.
She was happy of having Skeeta to open her eyes: not having to take all this crap so serious.
She was sure of being able to be a victor without having to count every single lettuce leaf she ate.
You are winner when you want it- with all your heart. That was kind of her device.
And that was what her mom, her dad and her trainers didn't understand:
She had the ambition to win.
Heavens- if they only knew how ambitious she was!
She simply didn't believe in those strategies anymore.
Maybe that was the reason why there sometimes were winner from other districts other than 1 or 2.
Having the will is the first and most important step towards victory.
You are simply not allowed to let you distract from nothing else.
"Helloooo? Somebody there?" Skeeta waved with her hand before her face.
"Yeah" "Oh dear, Clove, again in your deep thoughts about how to win the Games, aren#t you?"
"Shut up, I'm not" she snapped but couldn't keep herself from blushing.
Damn, she didn't want Skeeta to think of her as a sick career.
But it's so hard to fight your old habits…
